Roasted kabocha squash salad with feta

This roasted kabocha squash salad with feta is really easy to make and easily adapted. It has a tasty mix of comforting squash, crisp greens and a tangy dressing that works for lunch, as an appetizer or side.

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Winter squash are definitely one of my favorite parts of the cooler seasons. I do like cooking with pumpkin (as you may have noticed, if you've looked around here at all), but others winter squash vie for my favorite.

Since we've been in Australia, I have discovered that butternut and kabocha are the 'staples' here which I'm pretty happy about. It was a little confusing at first as both are typically called pumpkin, with kabocha usually called a "Kent pumpkin". In Australia, this would be a pumpkin rocket salad, but no matter what you call it, it's delicious and easy.

What is kabocha squash?

Kabocha is a variety of hard skinned winter squash, sometimes called Japanese pumpkin. You'll find a few slight variations, but the most common has a flecked dark green skin. It's one of the larger squash and is typically pretty wide and slightly stumpy-looking.

One of its few downsides is the skin can be pretty tough to cut through. But once you break it open, just use a vegetable peeler to get the skin off. You are then greeted with the bright orange flesh, similar to butternut. But the flavor, to me, is even better - some describe it as having a bit of a chestnut flavor, and it certainly has a slight nuttiness.

Kabocha is a relatively sweet squash but is less dense than butternut. It's really versatile and works in both sweet and savory dishes. I really like it for pumpkin risotto as it's so incredibly smooth and flavorful. 

It's a popular squash is Japanese and Korean cooking, where it's a staple for Autumn. A classic Japanese use is in kabocha na nimono which is a wonderfully easy umami-packed side dish. You'll also find it in vegetable tempura and more.

Roasted kabocha salad variations

This is based on a salad we had in one of Melbourne's many great food markets. I really enjoyed the mix of soft, comforting roasted squash and slightly salty feta. Some crisp greens, and a flavorful dressing brought it all together. 

I knew I needed to make it myself and so this has been a fixture of a few lunches at home since. I have made this with what's basically a fattoush dressing and the tangy flavor works so well. 

The version I have made here is essentially a "base salad" that you can either enjoy just as it is or add to as you like. Some potential additions are:

• Enhance the nuttiness with pepitas, toasted almonds or other nuts and seeds.
• Build out the roasted vegetables with for example peppers, eggplant or carrots.
• Add some bursts of sweet with dried fruit like cranberries or dried cherries (I'd say sweet-tart works better than eg raisins).
• Make it more of a meal with added protein such as roast chicken or some chickpeas (gently spiced and roasted would work well, too).
• Add some extra vegetable crunch such as thinly sliced fennel or some shaved Brussels sprouts.
• Make it heartier with some farro or wheat berries mixed in.

You can also, of course, change up the greens to be spinach, kale or whatever else you have on hand. 

This roasted kabocha squash salad is a wonderful balance of fresh and comforting flavors and textures. It's great in this simple form, plus really easy to change up as well. So grab your ingredients and give it a try.

Try these other fall-flavored salads:

• Beet apple salad with maple vinaigrette
• Roasted beet and butternut squash salad
• Apple celeriac salad with bacon
• Plus get more fall recipes in the archives.

See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store. 

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